Lawmakers seek crackdown on China-owned U.S. farmland

Politics Lawmakers seek crackdown on China-owned U.S. farmland as Trump meets with Xi Jinping By Gabe Kaminsky, Gabe Kaminsky Investigative Reporter Gabe Kaminsky is an investigative reporter for CBS News based in Washington, D.C., covering money and influence in politics. Read Full Bio Gabe Kaminsky, Callie Teitelbaum May 13, 2026 / 3:13 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google President Trump's face-to-face meeting this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping comes as members of Congress are calling for a crackdown on China's ability to acquire U.S. farmland, citing national security concerns.Mr. Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for a highly anticipated summit with Xi, which is expected to focus on trade, energy, Taiwan and the war with Iran. Ahead of his visit, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced new legislation that aims to close what they described as "dangerous loopholes" allowing foreign adversaries like China to purchase American farmland and real estate near U.S. military bases."Food security is national security, and we cannot allow foreign adversaries like China to buy up American farmland near our most sensitive military and critical infrastructure sites," Rep. John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican who heads the Select Committee on China and led the bill's introduction, said in a statement. The bill has backing from members of both parties, with Democrats such as New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer and California Reps. Julia Brownley, Jimmy Panetta and Mike Thompson signing on. A Trump administration official told CBS News that tracking foreign land ownership continues to be a priority, including reviewing how states compile data on the matter. More than 40 million acres of agricultural land in the U.S., about 2% of the nation's total, is owned by foreign entities, according to the latest assessment by the Department of Agriculture as of December 2024. Chinese investments amount to less than 1% of foreign-held land in the U.S.Last F...